HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania (AP) – Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have in recent days deported the Cuban-born mother of a 1-year-old girl — separating them indefinitely — and three children ages 2, 4 and 7 who are U.S. citizens along with their Honduran-born mothers, their lawyers said. The three cases raise questions about who is being deported, and why, and come amid a battle in federal courts over whether President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown has gone too far and too quickly at the expense of fundamental rights. Lawyers in the cases described how the women were arrested at routine check-ins at ICE offices, given virtually no opportunity to speak with lawyers or their family members and then deported within three days or less. The American Civil Liberties Union, National Immigration Project and several other allied groups said in a statement that the way ICE deported children who are U.S. citizens and their mothers is a “shocking — although increasingly common — abuse of power.”

 

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WASGHINGTON (Anadolu) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday said that American vessels should travel through the Panama and Suez canals without paying fees, claiming that these strategic passages owe their existence to the U.S. “American Ships, both Military and Commercial, should be allowed to travel, free of charge, through the Panama and Suez Canals,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “Those Canals would not exist without the United States of America,” he added, directing Secretary of State Marco Rubio to “immediately take care of, and memorialize, this situation!” National Security Advisor Michael Waltz supported Trump’s position regarding the Panama Canal, suggesting the U.S. “shouldn’t have to pay to use a canal” it built. The Panama Canal connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through Panama, while the Suez Canal in Egypt links the Mediterranean and Red seas, providing the shortest maritime route between Europe and the Indian and western Pacific oceans. Both canals charge substantial transit fees, potentially reaching hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on vessel size and cargo. The Trump administration has been working to reduce China’s influence over the Panama Canal, which the U.S. constructed over 120 years ago before transferring control to Panama in 1999. In February, Panama withdrew from China’s Belt and Road Initiative following pressure from Washington and a visit by Rubio.

 

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ROME (Dispatches) – Thousands of mourners gathered in Rome on Sunday to pay their respects at the tomb of Pope Francis, a day after his funeral drew world leaders and hundreds of thousands of the faithful. On Sunday, queues were seen at the tomb, which opened to the public on the second of nine days of official mourning, with a conclave to select his successor expected between May 5 and May 10. Outside St Mary Major Basilica, ushers urged visitors to keep moving to allow the steady stream of people a chance to bid farewell. The Argentinian pontiff, who died on April 21 aged 88, was laid to rest in a modest white marble tomb near an icon of the Madonna that he deeply revered.

 

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SEOUL (AP) – South Korea’s main liberal opposition party tapped Sunday its former leader Lee Jae-myung as presidential candidate in the upcoming June 3 vote. The Democratic Party said Lee has won nearly 90 percent of the votes cast during the party’s primary that ended Sunday, defeating two competitors. Lee, a liberal who wants greater economic parity in South Korea and warmer ties with North Korea, has solidified his position as front-runner to succeed recently ousted conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol. Lee had led the opposition-controlled parliament’s impeachment of Yoon over his imposition of martial law before the Constitutional Court formally dismissed him in early April. Yoon’s ouster prompted a snap election set for June 3 to find a new president, who’ll be given a full, single five-year term. Lee, 60, lost the 2022 election to Yoon in the narrowest margin recorded in the country’s presidential elections. He is the clear favorite to win the election.

 

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ALGIERS (AFP) – Four people have died and 13 others injured in a landslide in Algeria’s western coastal city of Oran, authorities said on Sunday. The landslide occurred late Saturday in the city’s Hai Essanouber district, the civil defense agency said. It said the four “deceased were between five and 43 years old,” and that “13 other victims, aged between 12 and 75, suffered various injuries.” Authorities did not comment on the reasons behind the landslide, which the interior ministry said “caused the collapse of five tin houses.” With no one still missing from the landslide, the ministry said the death toll was “final.”

 

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NAIROBI (AP) – The African peacekeeping mission in Somalia requires an additional 8,000 troops, even as Burundi is expected to withdraw its contingent, a statement from military heads from troop-contributing countries said. The African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia, or AUSSOM, is tasked with combating the al-Shabab group, whose attacks are stoking fears of a terrorist resurgence in the Horn of Africa nation. But Burundi’s planned pullout, which diplomatic sources said was triggered by a spat with Mogadishu over the state of its soldiers’ equipment, would deprive the mission of around one-fifth of its current manpower. Envoys from Djibouti, Ethiopia, Egypt, Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, the African Union, and multilateral organizations held a three-day meeting in Uganda this week to discuss the security situation in Somalia and the progress of AUSSOM. In a statement, the officials said insufficient troops had created security gaps “resulting in the resurgence of Al-Shabab taking control of significant territory in both Middle and Lower Shabelle.” “As a consequence, both Jowhar and Mogadishu are under imminent threat by al-Shabab,” the statement said.